America’s Real Problem Is Healthcare

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A comprehensive deal to put the United States on a sustainable fiscal path, one that includes both tax and entitlement reform, has thus far proved elusive for policymakers. As Washington gears up for a series of heated budget battles in 2013, former White House budget director and CFR Senior Fellow Peter Orszag notes how improving value in healthcare can both shore up Treasury’s bottom line and shield U.S. workers from the effects of globalization.

“It is not hard to work out what is driving our long-term fiscal gap,” writes Orszag in this opinion piece for the Financial Times. “President Barack Obama is right. We do not have a spending problem – we have a healthcare problem.”

If the US drops the price of healthcare to the average of the industrialized world we will put the US directly in depression. It would remove approximately 8% from the GDP.

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The United States faces enormous challenges created by an increasingly dynamic and competitive global economy. This blog offers a portal to the Renewing America initiative, which sponsors research, analysis, policy ideas, and dialogue on how best to revitalize the country's economic strength and build the foundations for future prosperity and influence.

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